Morning journal and courier., 1887-05-30
THE SWELL BALLET OF JAPAN. The Maik0-GtrIs in Gorgeous Fabrics
 Glide About-No Story, Hut Great
 Art.

ter of aristocratic residence, was always ia nous, and is famous still for the variety and excellence of its dances, ss we'll as for the beauty, grace and skill of the performers, whose accomplishments are a household word in Japan. No visitor should leave Kio to without seeing Mako entertainment. For centuries it was the chief school of the art, produced it's own high class types, in which the object always aimed at was to pre- serve, amid all variety, the courtly elegance and dignity and beautiful apparel of the an- cient styles. Such for example is the Shira- biposhi, pure Kioto dance of considerable antiquity; And such, though of modern date, is the Miyako Odori or metropolitan dance, devised barely twenty years ago by late director of the dancing society of Kioto
 representation of this refined dance has just been prepared for the stage with great care in honor of the Mikados visit, and had an opportunity of witnessing it's perfor- nance a few evenings ago.
 The theater is of plain unvarnished and unpa1nted wood, the most striking feature being the ponderouS Icof carried on single span of some fifty feet, and the high excel lence of the carpenters end joiners' work. Besides the main stage in front there are two narrower stages occupying the right and left sides of the building. On the fourth side, facing the main stage, is large roem-like
 box for the imperial family and court, and in front of it tive or three tiers of raised seats, plainly modern innovation. The body of the auditorium, occupying the space between the side stages, is 8 hat undivided matted l area, ln, or rather on, which the spectators sit in Japanese fashion, and solace themselves with their tiny pipes of fragrant tobacco and little cups of tea.
 On entering we find the stages concealed by curtains of white silk crape. painted with l pine, bamboo and plum trees, the emblems 1 of longevity, vigor and fragrance. These are the only decorations. The lighting is footlights, with candles for the stage and hanging lamps and rows of candles for the rest of the interior.
 On the rise of the curtains the scene in front represents & summer house in the l grounds of the Mikado's palace, girt by 8 veranda with red lacquered steps and rail- 1 ings, and hung with bamboo blinds. Right l and left on each side stage is a crimson dais, | on which are seated eight girl musicians or
 geisha, from about eighteen to twenty years | of age, clothed in soft raiment of brilliant hues, and got up from head to foot in the | highest style of Japanese art.
 The eight on the right are players of the samisen, species of three stringed guitar, \ the chords of which are struck with an ivory plectrum. Of those on the left four play \ the tsuzumi, small drum held in the air | and struck with the hand, the other four per ! forming alternately with the tsiko or flat | drum and bells of delicate tone Music and singing are at once begun. These are of the | quaint and, for the most part, somewhat dis l nal type peculiar to the higher flights of the musical art in Japan. One must be Japa- l nese to appreciate them. Time and tune, however, are evidently we'll kept, and the l performance is doubtless good of it's kind. | After 8 short overture the Mako appear, en- 1 tering at the extremities of the side stages, l right and left of the imperial box, and nov ing in single file toward the main stage. Their advance, extremely slow, can only be described es progress. It is not 8 march; l neither is it a dance as we understand the l term. Stately almost to solemnity, yet full | of grace, 1t is series of artistic posturings | and pantomime, in time with the music and | accompanied by the slowest possible forward 1 movement.
 By the time all of the danseuses have en- 1 tered there are sixteen on either side-young | girls of from about fifteen to seventeen years | old. In dress they are counterparts of the
 musicians-aglow with scarlet, light blue, ! white and gold, in robss of great length and l voluminous folds, bound with girdles of tru- ly prodigious dimensions. In spite, how I ever, of the gorgeous colorings, there is noth- ing garish or distasteful to the eye. No can 1 on of art or taste is offended. The secret l lies in the fabric of the girls garments-silk | crape, the delicate softness of which relieves l the brilliancy of tints that might otherwise
 be displeasing.
 In person the Mako are the prettiest little | specimens of budding Japanese girlhood, l rosy-lipped and black eyed, with comedy and l delicate features, tiny hands and feet, and an \ air of graceful modesty and innocence rarely seen on any stage. As for their coifure, it | is miracle of the Japanese hairdresser's skill, and rich with adornments of flowers l and coral. How much of their beauty these | dainty little misses may owe to art it might
 be unkind to inquire too closely. Kioto is ! famed for it's manufacture of shiroi, white lead cosmetic of rare virtue, and said to be used with 8 skill which western ladies of l fashion would give good deal to possess | But surely there can be little need for it ! here, if we may judge from the whiteness of l the Maiko's hands and of as much of her arms as is now and then revealed to us. There is also Japanese rouge of great merit, | which uncharitable persons might suspect of having share in the brilliancy of those
 "threads of scarlet," the Maikos lips.
 Tiny razors too are even supposed by some
 malignant minds to play part in the finely l pencilled eyebrows of Japanese bellies.
 Fans of course play prominent part in the l intricate gestures of the Mako. Those car ] ried now are large and circular, and richly
 bedecked with red and white flowers. With l these, as with their heads, hands, limbs and
 bodies, the files display to the full, on their l slow progress up the theater, that music of 1 motion which so delights the eyes of the
 Japanese. Thus turning. lowing, swaying, l kneeling and waving, always gracefully and
 in time with the music, the ranks at length
 meet on the front stage, pass one another and retire again down the sides, at the end ! of which they turn, form into peirs and re- gain the stage, one wing soon leaving it, l while the other continues the dance before l the footlights for 8 few" minutes, when it | also retires.
 All this while the music goes on, now | sad and slow, anon in ivelier strains, and | is accompanied by the voices of the sami. | sen players, chanting hymn of happiness, prosperity and peace, in which the reign of l -Four Lord the Mikado'' is likened, in high- 1 ly fowery language, to the beauty and
 tranquility of nature "at this first dawn of spring"
 Next the bamboo blinds of the veranda
 are raised, revealing the first squadron of dancers postured in picturesque groups be- tween background of dead gold and the 1 crimson lacquer of the veranda. These,
 descending to the stage, resume the dance.
 They have parted with their Hower-girs fans, and each girl has tsuzumi attached to her girdle, with which she accompanies the orchestra.
 To them, on their withdrawing, succeed l the second squadron, who, with scarlet and | white fans, go through a measure of sins
 gular grace and beauty, and at length re- ] tire to the veranda, which rises with them
 bringing the first scene to a close. The
 second scene is laid in the famous gardens
 of Arashiyama in the suburbs of Kioto,
 and appears as a fairyland of Towering
 cherry trees, lit by galaxy of minute star-like lamps. Here the whole corps grad
 ually reassemble, and at length execute a
 final dance of the same type as before, after
 which they retire by the side stages with the l slow measured movements that marked their | first entrance.
 Thus, after about all hours performance,
 ends the Miyako-Odori. It illustrates no tale or plot. It is only an elaborate measure
 of "woven paces and of waving hands," such as Vivien may have trodden lin the l wild woods of Broceliande." It has no ob- | iects but those of exhibiting color, raiment, 1 grace and beauty with all the skill that Jap | anese art taste can contrive, and of preserv- 1 ing the old classic style of dancing, and set
 ting examples of the highest forms of strict | feminine etiquette.
 @isIeIlaneut1s.